Radeon R9 290X is AMD’s first UHD card

One thing we missed – AMD’s new R9 290X is the company’s first consumer card to support Ultra HD (3840x2160 at 60Hz).

AMD has proposed a new VESA standard to cope with the specific requirements of UHD gaming. Since it’s the first company to support 4K in consumer grade products, this is hardly surprising.

AMD even mentioned “everyday” UHD support, although we all know UHD or 4K displays are anything but common at this point. They will take years to bring to mainstream users and AMD has just fired the first round in what will be a long war.

The first monitors are shipping already, but they are too pricey for the vast majority of users. They are pro toys at this point. For example, an Asus 4K monitor is selling on Newegg for $3499 and it does not support AMD’s standard, at least not in its current version.

The Panasonic Viera 4K is the first “mainstream” TV to support the new standard, but its price is anything but mainstream.